MUSIC

Following local viral hit "Yank Riddim" in an era where young listeners prefer to consume music numb, 23-year-old Connecticut performance artist and music producer Snow LaFlurr aims to revive the feeling with her new release, “Freak Like Me.”

"Freak Like Me" follows her biggest viral success to date, “Yank Riddim,” a triple tribute to her deceased friend Zoe, the dance he popularized (The Yank), and Busta Rhymes’s classic, “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.”

ABOUT SNOW LAFLURR: Snow LaFlurr grew up in a Jamaican household in New Haven, Connecticut boasting a fruit punch of a childhood soundtrack –– credited to a father who was one of state's biggest DJs and the son of a former Bob Marley session musician. Big tunes, whether by a new Soca band or vintage Minnie Riperton, had an omnipresence in her home. Although raised by rhythm, lyricism was her initial calling. An eccentric child that often felt misunderstood, young LaFlurr would articulate her emotions to adults via poetry. Her inner record producer was awakened by her eldest brother (also a DJ), who introduced his little sister to pop acts like Spice Girls and NSYNC to 50 Cent and Dip Set.

Snow’s initial music discovery would stretch even farther, eventually falling her in love with the UK’s Drum & Bass and Garage genres. A true Aquarian, she was simultaneously an eclectic introvert and social magnet who out-danced all comers. Realizing her free spirit wasn’t suited for the confines of a DJ booth, the entrepreneur took an adjacent approach to the family biz. She grew a local name by throwing house parties that are currently considered throughout Connecticut both legendary and still in-demand.

With her flag planted in the uncharted soil of Connecticut, the drippy 23-year-old disrupted the Internet throughout summer ’18 with breakout hit "Yank Riddim". Followups include “Soft Drink” and “Flex Lon Don” paying homage to Missy Elliott, Timbaland and The Isley Brothers. And yet, these odes in succession are the rise of a new wave.

ABOUT YUNG BABY TATE: Yung Baby Tate hails from Atlanta flaunting a rainbow-worthy variety of vibrant talents as an entertainer, coined namely a singer-songwriter, rapper, producer, dancer, actress, and self-acclaimed, “dope ass chick". Music also seemed predestined. Tate actually attended the 1996 GRAMMY® Awards in the womb of her mother Dionne Farris, of iconic rap group, Arrested Development. Growing up as a kid in Decatur, Georgia, she developed a passion for nineties R&B and Hip-Hop, citing Brandy, SWV, Missy Elliott and more as influences in addition to pop muse Gwen Stefani.

The budding songstress made her introduction with a sharpened style of her own and 2014 single “What’s Up” followed by a prolific run which encompassed 2015’s ROYGBIV EP. Tate later returned with her 2018 breakout project BOYS EP, which produced viral hit and fan favorite “Bob,” clocking nearly a half-million cumulative streams within six months. Widespread acclaim followed from The FADER, Creative Loafing, Mass Appeal and many more. Now, she preps her next effort GIRLS, writing and producing herself once more.

The track serves as the first single from the 20-year old rapper for 2019. With a project due out later this year and a plethora of music already released, Trapois showing no signs of slowing down. We can expect to see the same level of finesse and creative genius we have seen on his previous material. His latest project will include a collab with New York-based producer Russ Chell, whose credits include Juice WRLD, YBN Cordae, and 88 Glam.

ABOUT DEEP BLUE PR & MANAGEMENTBased in New York, Deep Blue is an independent music company home to a passionately curated roster of artists and producers. Our services include public relations, artist management, tour management, and creative direction.

Ize feat. Sounds Interview

August 22, 2018

You came from Bridgeport, moved to Brooklyn in 2012. Have you always pursued a musical journey?

I made my first mix when I was eight. My dad was a DJ, so I couldn’t avoid dance music. My mother listened to a lot of salsa so I took a liking to reggaeton because it was horny... artists like Tego, Baby Rasta, Speedy, Pre “Despacito” Daddy Yankee Pre “Barrio Fino” Daddy Yankee Etc. I don’t even speak Spanish like that. My favorite rappers growing up were Big Pun, Jay-Z, Max & French...od Max & French & 50. I take favor to a lot of new artists as well but I mainly influence myself (shoutout Color Plus & Acemo).

Your influences gave you a good sense of rhythm though, right?

Exactly, that’s what (reggaeton) built - which is kind of balanced in my music in general. My lyrics are free form..I’ve always been a writer so I take pride in applying all that to myself as an entity.

You’ve been here (NYC) for five years. Can you say you’ve experienced any changes in musical style since then?

My music background here was mainly in electronic music. I only deal with producers and DJ’s. I don’t fuck with rappers like that. (Unless you good good $$) I turn down features left & right. If you look at my discography, Soundcloud, anything (Izeman 1,2 & 3, Who the Hell is Me) no features. Like 50 fuckin’ songs.

I engineered a lot of kids’ stuff back in Bridgeport and tried to do artist development. I’m not going to name drop.. they know who they are. I also produce - I produced a majority of my material, I produced the shit we’re listening to right now.

How have you perceived rap to have changed in the past 5-10 years?

It’s ignorant.. (laughs) but it’s heavy. It’s natural, people just go crazy. People just be off the shits sayin’ whatever the fuck & it’s beautiful. Before it was like Eminem talkin’ irrational shit. Then we got to SPG jackin “suck a n*gga dick for a 2011”. Now it’s niggas literally making songs out of adlibs it’s amazing. A lot of this shit wouldn’t exist without people like SGP, Soulja Boy, Lil B, Chief Keef, Gleesh.

Lil B definitely showed kids a free formula. So much content. Rap’s crazy because you forget how you got into it. Like people deadass lie a crisis to explain why they got into something knowing 9 times out of 10 you just started bopping your head to the shit. When you’re a kid (speaking for myself) you probably don’t give a fuck about the history of the content - you just like it. Especially in the hyper times we live in now. Man people just want more and more. They want to see more guns, more sex, more money, more chains, more Gucci. They want to breathe the fantasy so they make role models out of people who may or may not have it. The internet’s a fuckin’ matrix.

We come from a generation that watched rappers make millions off of physical sales, CD sales, endorsements, etc. It’s different now.

Now rappers either got money or they might have money so you think they got money. Like, before you used to be able to tell if a rapper was lit - you see ‘em on tv, the charts all the time. Fire. Now you get a good enough filter every diamond look real. End of the day everyone gets fucked, can’t name how many artists got screwed by labels so be careful

Do you want to keep making music? What would you define your path to happiness as?

Can’t see myself not making music and I’m type young to know what true happiness is so I try not to underestimate or under analyze happiness. (Which is why I’m a fuckin bum) I used to do a lot drugs and i don’t now so that makes me happy. I want a island, a oil rig & a church and a billion dollars.

What do you think happened that changed that, how are rappers getting paid now?

Again, the Internet. It’s much easier to brand yourself as a business than it was 10 years ago. My name’s got a tax ID smh. Shows, endorsements, merchandising..shit like that’s what’s banking. Labels don’t sign million dollar advances unless your influence is already there. Don’t take a $15,000 advance, $30,000 advance if you don’t have it in your account.

An ill label I’m down, I’m planning a release with NON (fire individuals). Labels that take care of their people and put your music in places where it’ll make money are diamonds in the rough. I don’t want to force that though - I just want to be copied, you know what I mean? Like my music’s already out there and then younger artists want to do shit like me.

Being a personality...that’s important. It’s pretty much the only reason why you like artists as people. It’s the only reason you hate artists as people.

Why do you say that?

I don’t support any of the allegations towards a lot these new rappers, it’s nasty. Man Kodak Black’s a great rapper but you know he did some uncool shit. Ugly side of it though rappers were never really good people in highlight. People bless Tupac (R.I.P), but he like - shot niggas. It was passionate but (To my understanding) He did that shit cus people were hyping his head. You look at dudes old interviews and he was a sweet kid - like mad sweet. He didn’t have to die for that shit. But he lived that life, earned those stripes & that was the result. You could really deadass actually argue he did all that as a career choice. That’s wild. Heath Ledger put himself in the looney house to be the Joker - Tupac shot a cop to be a rapper. It’s crazy as hell. You could tell who really living that life. It’s easy to call a liar.

It’s about giving a personality - giving a personality that you can’t copy. I just tell people it’s my language and if you understand it you smart. I love the people that try to, and I love the people that don’t. My voice is an instrument at the end of the day. The producer/engineer side of me knows it developed the monster. My shit used to be dry, you know? It used to be wack as hell, and then it just wasn’t one day and I just kept going hard on that. I was never afraid to be or considered me myself wack (Lol). So it wasn’t gonna be wack. It went from nobody listening to my shit to BBC Radio. I’m addicted to goin harder. Harder, deeper, thicker...worse. Til’ my hair falls out, til’ my fingernails fall off, harder. I consistently take different approaches making music - I took a step back from writing and freestyled majority of my lyrics for a while because I was losing the ugly. My music prior to that time was coming out more logical than entertaining. I’m not saying that’s a problem but I’m not dumb, so why not do both? The new shit I’m doing is a stream of consciousness under revision. So to me it’s perfect. My shit stems from my ideas of a chimera. I make music that’s hard and hot. That’s why young me loved reggaeton it was mad horny. I was force fed a lot of electronic music, jungle, house, etc. My mom worked full time and my dad was a DJ. He would mix for hours & like babysat me like that so I grew up turnt.

Shadow Mosez: Lost Filez

Shadow Mosez returns with blood and bad luck in his sights, dropping another visual titled under the "Lost Files" this past Friday, the 13th. The video was shot at an undisclosed location in Brooklyn, somewhere around late October 2017, and includes footage reminiscent of mixed horror - near to a slight "See No Evil" vibe. The Shadow God's reign is quickly picking up speed as he recently dropped an EP, single, and music video - all within the last three months. Shadow Mosez's new visual, titled "She Want MY Blood" can be considered another new addition to the darkness. Look out for more content from Shadow Mosez, very soon. (Video shot by creative and visual director Patrick Chen)

Brooklyn, NY – Heavy Hitters touched down in Brooklyn last weekend to continue their east coast run. Artists on the tour included The Khan, Lil Tracy, Black Kray a.k.a. Sickboyrari, Wifigawd and more. Energy from fans and artists alike hit the ceiling, guided by underground and talented hometown artists (NappyNappa, Mahi Montana, ShadowMosez, Tripp Jones) who initially set the stage. Hella people left sweaty. The show, held at Brooklyn Bazaar, also facilitated the release of NYC/DC artist The Khan’s “Free Jesse” Mixtape, freshly performed under New York’s underground spotlight since the project dropped. Peep the 35mm photo set below and stay tuned for upcoming video footage from the show!